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This is our third year now being part of a CSA (community supported agriculture). We have slowly, but surely developed a seasonal eating mindset and can even now recall, for the most part, what is in season at what times here in upstate New York. We’ve gotten used to eating oddly shaped fruits and vegetables that are much smaller than their grocery store equivalents. We are always amazed to see the differences between our farmer’s food and our grocery store’s food.

This summer for the first time we got a watermelon as a part of our CSA share. We have had other melons from our CSA before and they have all been wonderful. We excitedly brought the watermelon home and cut it up that very day.

I eagerly cut the melon open and was stunned to discover it had seeds inside! I tried to remember when the last time I had a watermelon with seeds in it and regret to admit, it was probably when I was a child. That’s twenty years ago! It has been twenty years (give or take a few years) since I have had a watermelon with seeds! How crazy!

It’s got seeds! What?!

The whole time I was cutting our CSA watermelon up, I was having a mental discussion with myself. It went something like this…

“It’s not a big deal that it has seeds. It will still be delicious. Watermelons are supposed to have seeds. It’s not a big deal, really. You just need to get over it.”

So, I decided to not let the seeds bother me and just eat it with seeds. I cut the melon into slices and took a huge bite only to nearly choke on it. It was awful! I just couldn’t wrap my brain around eating it and either swallowing or spitting out the seeds. (Pathetic, I know!). So, I did the only thing I could think of to remedy the situation. We enjoyed our watermelon in chunks instead of slices and I picked out every little seed from every singe chunk. The melon part was incredibly delicious, but I doubt I am going to get another watermelon from our CSA. Next time, I will just stick with a honeydew or cantaloupe, at least those seeds are easy enough to scoop out!

Isn’t it crazy how spoiled most of us have become with all the food modifications that are now considered normal? After three years of eating fruits and vegetables from a local farmer, one would think our family would be used to eating food in its naturally grown (not genetically modified/no pesticides, etc.) state. I am ashamed to admit, I was repulsed by the seeds in the watermelon. Over the past twenty years, I have grown so accustomed to what, in my mind, was “normal” watermelon. So when I saw all those seeds, instead of focusing on the delicious melon, I was aghast and somewhat put-out that I either had to spit out the seeds or swallow them. Isn’t it interesting the way our mind and food tastes are shaped by the food we may have always thought of as “normal”?

A friend of mine recently sent me the following video. The video itself is an advertisement for a new Chipotle app/game. The video shows an interesting perspective of our commercialized food system and, at the very least, is quite thought-provoking. Hats off to the company for continuing to raise awareness of the unhealthy, commercialized food practices found in America today. If you have never heard of Chipotle, it is a mexican grille that unabashedly announces its dedication to “Food with Integrity”. It is a fascinating company to look into. You can find lots more information about them at their website. So, without further ado, here’s the video: